Happy Birthday, Mrs Lavery
by kcl71
Summary: An alternate-reality "missing scene" from 1988 in which Anna Devane celebrates her birthday with her husband Duke Lavery and her daughter Robin Scorpio. Filomena Soltini appears, because I forgot that she was already dead in Aug '88.
1. Chapter 1

_18 August 1988_

"So are you ready to go get some ice cream now?" Duke Lavery asked his stepdaughter as they wandered the aisles at Wyndham's, hand in hand. "I think we have everything we need for your Mummy."

"Are you sure?" Robin Scorpio asked.

"Well, let's see. Pretty earrings?"

"Check."

"Lovely nightdress?"

"Check."

"That book she wanted: _Presumed Innocent_."

"We got that, too!"

"Well, then? Ice cream?"

"Oh, yes!" the little girl exclaimed gleefully. "Oh, wait! I know what else. Over here, Uncle Duke." She went running toward the music aisle and began rifling through CDs. "This one, Uncle Duke!"

Duke followed her and looked over her shoulder at the item in her hand. "Eli Love? You think your Mummy would like this?"

"Oh, yes," she said definitively. "He's her favorite."

"Are you sure?" Duke asked skeptically.

"Yes, she listens to him in the car when she takes me to school all the time."

"Well, which one, then?"

"The box set. Definitely. It even has the live tracks and B sides."

_"All the Love"_?

"Mommy will love it, Uncle Duke. Trust me. I know she will!"

"Alright, then, you're the expert. We'll pay for this and then…ice cream?"

"Aren't you supposed to tell me I'll spoil my dinner?"

"Well, this is a special occasion, so we'll make an exception. Come on, you."


	2. Chapter 2

Later that evening, Duke, Robin, Anna, and Filomena were seated around a table at Duke's club. The table was littered with the remains of birthday cake and wrapping paper.

"Such lovely presents," beamed Anna. "Thank you all so much. And the cake was delicious, Filomena."

"Yes, but you do know we have a pastry chef here at the club," Duke pointed out. "You didn't need to go to all the trouble of baking, Filomena. You could've just relaxed-enjoyed the day."

"Yeah, Grandma," agreed Robin.

"Oh, baking is no trouble!" assured Filomena. "Not for Anna mia. And baking, it is how I relax!"

"Well, it was wonderful," Anna gushed. "All of it. You're all too good to me." She looked sideways at Duke. "And how did you know about the album? I never mentioned it."

"A little bird told me," Duke grinned.

"Ah, well, I know who that would be."

Anna and Duke smiled at Robin, who giggled, and then over her head at each other.

"Well, then, shall we go home? Continue the party there?" suggested Duke, looking slyly at Anna.

"Already?" lamented Robin. "Don't you guys want to dance?"

"You have school tomorrow, darling," Anna reminded her.

"But it's a special occasion. Right, Uncle Duke?"

"Your Mummy's right," affirmed Duke. "On your birthday, you can stay up late. But tonight, you'd better get home and get your beauty rest. Not that you could possibly get any prettier…." He leaned in to kiss the top of the little girl's head, and she giggled.

Anna got up from her chair. "Alright, then, let's go everyone." She waved across the club as they all headed toward the door. " 'Night, Angel."

"Goodnight, Mrs. Lavery," the club manager called back. "Happy birthday. Goodnight, Boss." Angel winked at Duke.

"Yeah, Angel, I'll see you tomorrow, alright?" Duke smiled.

"No rush," Angel said with a conspiratorial grin. "Don't hurry in…."


	3. Chapter 3

A bit later, back in the Laverys' bedroom, Duke hung his jacket in the closet, then sat on his side of the bed, leaned back against the headboard, and loosened and removed his tie, tossing it onto the nightstand. "Almost done in there?"

As he unbuttoned his collar and cuffs, Anna emerged from the bathroom in a tiny, tight, faded black Eli Love concert T-shirt and panties. She stopped to slip a CD into a player on the dresser, and as a disappointingly generic guitar ballad began to blare from the speakers, she turned and slinked to the bed. She crawled up on all fours and then straddled her husband, settling herself onto thighs.

"What's this, then?" Duke asked bemusedly, sliding his hands up her bare thighs.

Anna just smiled widely at him.

"I buy you a silk peignoir and this is what you come to bed in?"

"You don't like it?"

"It doesn't matter, really, because I intend to have you out of it in a minute." He reached for the bottom hem of the T-shirt.

"Not—" Anna grabbed his hands with lightning-quick reflexes. "—so fast…" She pressed his hands into the mattress on either side of them, then leaned in and kissed him.

"You're very forward this evening," Duke observed, pleased.

"I blew out all my candles. I get my wish."

"In that case…your wish is my command."

They kissed again, this time with no intention of stopping until all the evening's wishes had been granted.

Afterward…_All the Love_ still played on the stereo. The Laverys lay in each others arms, in a tangle of sheets.

"Are you sure it's your birthday?" Duke asked.

"Yes. Why?"

"For a moment I thought it must be mine…."

Anna laughed. "No, I'm quite certain it's mine."

Duke sighed. "I'll have to send Mr. Eli Love a thank-you note, then." He paused. "What is it with you and these Australians, anyway?"

"It's just a coincidence." Anna looked at him mischievously. "Eli is the one and only man on my List, though."

"What list is that?"

"The people who, if we ever got the chance…well, we'd be allowed a little…extramarital activity."

Duke raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh, really? Who shall I have on my List, then? Let me think…. Well, there's that girl, the dancer, from that Travolta movie. Bloody awful film, but she's a nice bit of talent."

"Haven't seen it," Anna deadpanned. "But okay, you get a free pass for Travolta's random tart.

"And then…"

"What do you mean, 'And then?' My List has one person!"

"Well that's your prerogative, and I'm glad of it. But one person does not a List make, luv."

"I guess you have a point," Anna grudgingly admitted.

" So…Tiffany."

"The little redhead who sings in shopping malls?" Anna asked doubtfully.

"I don't know who that is," Duke answered, truly clueless and uninterested.

"Robin listens to her. 'I think we're alone now. There doesn't seem to be anyone a-rou-ound...,' " Anna sang, completely off-key.

Duke laughed. "I _hope_ we're alone now. That was terrible. I hope the poor girl sings in shopping malls better than that."

Anna frowned and shoved at him.

"Okay, add her to the List," Duke said, still laughing.

"She's 17 years old!" Anna scoffed in mock horror.

"Well, we'll wait a year, then put her on the List."

"Huh!" She shoved him again. "So who did you mean, then, anyway?"

"Tiffany. Tiffany Hill."

Anna sat bolt upright in the bed and whipped around to stare at him incredulously. "Tiffany? No no no. You're supposed to pick a celebrity!"

"Tiffany's on TV…"

Anna was fully riled. "No, a celebrity you're never actually going to meet!" She stared at him with her mouth agape. "I can't believe you said that. We had dinner with her and Sean last night…."

"Well, you started this little game, Mrs. Lavery," Duke laughed at her.

"Yes, well, just you remember: Sean knows a dozen ways to kill a man without leaving a trace. And he taught me three of them."

"And you do keep your gun in the bedside table, after all."

Anna realized he was teasing, and she settled back down into his arms, but was still put out. "That's right. Don't you forget it either."

Duke squeezed her tight and kissed her cheek, gratified by her jealousy. "Mmmm. So do you really want to know who I think about when you're not around, and I'm left to my own devices?"

"You can keep that to yourself, thank you. I've heard more than enough."

Duke spoke in his hypnotic storytelling voice that mesmerized Anna and Robin alike. "I remember a beautiful woman, standing alone in a crowded room…. She's wearing a pink frock, and she has the darkest, most electric eyes I've ever seen."

Anna looked at him in recognition, and he gave her that same devastating half-smile that he graced her with that night two years earlier when they first set eyes on each other, at the Policemen's Ball. Her breath caught in her chest just as it had then.

"And then I think about taking her by the hand," he continued, "and leading her out of the party, to someplace dark…and private…. And making passionate love to her, without ever exchanging a word."

"Duke…," Anna murmured, transfixed.

He held a finger to her lips, whispering, "Shh. Not a word." He kissed her with intensity, pressing her down upon the pillows and shifting his body atop hers. And then there were no more sounds that qualified as words….


End file.
